Insurers' innovations face cybersecurity threats

Insurers face billions in losses if they don’t secure their new digital interaction points and initiatives, according to new research from Accenture.

Accenture surveyed more than 1700 CEOs and C-Suite on the current challenges for businesses. The report “Securing the Digital Economy: Reinventing the Internet for Trust" discovers the challenges businesses face and outlines the need of advance technology, governance and architecture to CEOs moving forward.

According to the report, “the dependency on complex internet-enabled business models outpaces the ability to introduce adequate safeguards that protect critical assets.” Due to cybercrime having such wide range of malicious activity affecting business operations, innovation and growth, and the development of new products and service will cause lost revenue.

Electronic circuit boards from an International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Z14 server rack sit on display at the CeBIT 2018 tech fair in Hanover, Germany, on Monday, June 11, 2018. CeBIT, Europe's business festival for innovation and digitization, runs June 11 - 15. Photographer: Kriztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Three-quarters of respondents believe consumers cannot trust the safety of their online identities when their personal data is already available without restrictions. Cybercrime can cause a lack of trust between policyholders and insurers if affect by identity thieves.

Carriers must provide security in multiple layers from start to finish to protect consumer information. When taking on new digital innovation projects that involve collecting sensitive data it’s important to “have security at the table when discussing digitizing and have accountability for security,” Nadine Moore, Accenture’s cybersecurity lead for insurance shared.

The study outlines three actions that CEOs and other C-suite leaders can take to help improve the security of their digital platforms:

Governance: Join Forces with Other Companies and Govern Globally – Step up efforts to collaborate with other top executives, government leaders and regulators to better understand how to prevent new cyberattacks.

Business Architecture: Connect and Protect with a Model Run on Digital Trust – Become brilliant at the basics of cybersecurity. Fully protect business across the entire ecosystem of partners and supply chains.

Technology: Advance Businesses and Enhance Safety – Embrace new technologies, master IoT security, and prepare for the quantum challenge. Ensure that software security and update functions are embedded into mobile and IoT devices from initial design.

Omar Abbosh, Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology leader says, “Strengthening internet security requires decisive — and, at times, unconventional — leadership by CEOs, not just CISOs. To become a cyber-resilient enterprise, companies need to start by bringing CISOs’ expertise to the board, ensuring security is built-in from the initial design stage and that all business managers are held responsible for security and data privacy.”